Sports Ratings Tracker

The NCAA men’s Elite Eight averaged a 4.2 rating and 9.0 million viewers across CBS and TBS/truTV, down 5 and 10 percent respectively from last year, when the games coincided with the Easter holiday (4.4, 10.1M). Auburn-Michigan State led the way with 11.7 million, down 23% from NC State-Duke last year (15.1M), preceded by Purdue-Tennessee at 7.1 million (-23%).

While the Sunday games declined, the Saturday games both increased double-digits — as Duke-Alabama averaged 9.8 million (+26%) and Florida-Texas A&M 7.5 million (+16%).

See this article for additional details on the weekend numbers.

Auburn-Michigan delivered the largest audience of the NCAA regional semifinals with 7.34 million viewers on CBS Friday night, up slightly from Duke-Houston last year (7.33M). Michigan State-Mississippi averaged 6.71 million earlier in the night (+4%), with the concurrent Tennessee-Kentucky game at 3.56 million across TBS and truTV (-7%). (PI 3/31)

In women’s action, ESPN averaged 1.41 million for LSU-NC State (+22%). (PI 3/31)

See this article for additional details on the Friday numbers.

Thursday’s Duke-Arizona NCAA men’s basketball regional semifinal averaged 6.57 million viewers on CBS, down 16% from Alabama-North Carolina last year (7.80M). Alabama-BYU led in with 5.80 million, down 11% from Clemson-Arizona (6.53M).

On cable, Florida-Maryland averaged 3.87 million across TBS and truTV — up 37% from UConn-San Diego State a year ago (2.83M). Figures for the nightcap were not immediately available. (PI 3.28)

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is averaging a combined 9.4 million viewers per window across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV, the highest two-round average since 1993 and up from 9.04 million at the same point last year. (Keep in mind Nielsen did not track out-of-home viewing in its estimates until 2020 and did not do so in 100 percent of markets until earlier this year.)

Sunday’s slate averaged a combined 10.1 million (+13%). The early evening window averaged a combined 15.3 million across CBS, TBS and TNT, followed by the nightcap at 8.0 million on TBS, TNT and truTV — up from 14.9 and 6.7 million respectively last year. Earlier in the day, CBS drew 9.6 million for Duke-Baylor and 7.8 million for Florida-UConn, up from last year’s 8.1 million for Purdue-Utah State and 5.6 million for Marquette-Colorado.

Friday’s Kentucky-Troy NCAA men’s basketball tournament opening round game averaged 3.86 million viewers on CBS, followed by Illinois-Xavier at 3.22 million. On cable, TNT drew 2.76 million for UConn-Oklahoma and 2.06 million for Florida-Norfolk State, while TBS drew 2.57 million for New Mexico-Marquette and truTV 881,000 for Arizona-Akron.

Shifting to women’s action, Tennessee-South Florida drew 684,000 on ESPN, preceded by Louisville-Nebraska at 499,000. (PI 3/24)

The opening day of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament averaged a combined 9.1 million viewers per window across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV, a figure that includes some fast-national viewership — up 6% from last year and the highest yet for the first day of play. (Keep in mind out-of-home viewing was not included in Nielsen estimates prior to 2020.)

The early primetime window topped the charts with a combined 12.2 million across the four networks, the highest on record for a first round window.

See the following post for more details on the Thursday numbers.

Xavier’s comeback win over Texas in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament “First Four” averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.43 million viewers on truTV, marking the second-largest audience on record for the “First Four” behind only UCLA-Michigan State game in 2021 — which aired on TBS as part of COVID-related scheduling adjustments (3.15M).

Mount St. Mary’s-American led in with a 0.7 and 1.43 million, down from Grambling-Montana State a year ago (0.8, 1.45M). (TNT Sports/PI 3.20)

North Carolina’s rout of San Diego State in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament “First Four” averaged 2.2 million viewers on truTV, marking the largest audience yet for the late Tuesday “First Four” game, surpassing the previous high set by Indiana-Wyoming in 2022. Earlier in the night, Alabama State-St. Francis (Pa.) averaged 1.35 million, up 13% from last year and a record for the early Tuesday window, surpassing the previous high of 1.3 million for Mt. St. Mary’s-New Orleans in 2017.

The all-time high for the “First Four” remains 3.15 million for UCLA-Michigan State in 2021, when all four games took place on the same Thursday and the two 11-seed matchups aired on TBS.

Sunday’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament Selection Show averaged 5.71 million viewers on CBS, trailing only last year (5.91M) as the most-watched edition of the show since 2019 (6.2M). The telecast, which peaked with 6.16 million, faced competition from a long-running final round of The Players Championship on NBC.

Leading into the Selection Show, the Michigan-Wisconsin Big Ten Tournament final averaged 4.53 million — the largest audience for the event since 2014 and second-largest of the college basketball season. The Wolverines’ win, which peaked with 5.82 million, increased 24% from last year. In semifinal action, Michigan-Maryland averaged 3.01 million and Wisconsin-Michigan State drew 2.44 million, the fifth and ninth-largest audiences of the season. (CBS, 3/18)

The Tennessee-Florida SEC Tournament final ranked second for the weekend with 3.10 million, up 74% from last year and the largest audience for the event since 2015 (3.31M). Placing third for the weekend, the Duke-Louisville ACC Tournament final scored 3.07 million on ESPN, actually down 5% from NC State-North Carolina last year (3.24M). (ESPN, 3/19)

In other conference tournament action, the St. John’s-Creighton Big East Tournament final averaged 1.69 million on FOX, the largest audience for the event since the final year of the “old Big East” in 2013, when it aired on ESPN (FOX, 3/18). The Colorado State-Boise State Mountain West Tournament final drew 1.46 million on CBS (-19%), and the VCU-George Mason Atlantic-10 final drew 1.44 million (+24%) (CBS, 3/18).

The NCAA women’s selection show averaged 1.7 million viewers on ESPN, trailing only last year as the highest since 2005. (ESPN, 3/18)

For a full list and recap of weekend college basketball viewership, see this article.